


the beginning of something new

by glitter_ghostie



Series: finn week 2017 [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: First Date, M/M, supernatural au (no not that), swfinnweek, swfinnweek 2017, vampire finn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 09:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11597898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitter_ghostie/pseuds/glitter_ghostie
Summary: Finn sat up, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and decided to consult the bucket list for something to do.Lots of the options had been ticked off at this point, from the mundane to the wacky to vaguely dangerous, Finn had done most of them, and then one caught his eye.Find a soulmate (???)“Because I can stroll into Tescos and find a soulmate next to the produce aisle, ok, twenty-years-ago me.”





	the beginning of something new

**Author's Note:**

> god that title is so cheesy but i couldn't think of anything better (being bad at naming things is gay culture)

Being immortal had its ups and downs, and one of the ups was that Finn now had forever to complete his bucket list.

He hadn’t even had one before he turned, but now that he had infinity – unless he had an unfortunate run-in with a vampire slayer or a piece of garlic bread – to do whatever he wanted, the possibilities spiralled out in front of him.

He did the obvious ones first: skydive, run a marathon for charity, meet a famous person, write a book – well, that one was still in progress – but it was now twenty years since he’d turned and he was starting to get _bored._

Finn had spent the past weekend lying on the sofa, curtains drawn and cartons of “ethically sourced blood” scattered around the floor as he watched truly dreadful daytime TV. 

“Oh no,” he droned, watching some soap actress dramatically cry onscreen. “Another boyfriend dead? It’s like she’s cursed.”

What was he _doing?_

Finn sat up, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and decided to consult the bucket list for something to do.

Lots of the options had been ticked off at this point, from the mundane to the wacky to vaguely dangerous, Finn had done most of them, and then one caught his eye.

  * Find a soulmate (???)



“Because I can stroll into tescos and find a soulmate next to the produce aisle, ok, twenty-years-ago me,” Finn rolled his eyes and searched for another option.

But then, his treacherous eyes drifted back to the words, standing out in red sharpie against all the crossed out choices. He sighed, because it was silly – where on earth would he find someone who would both believe in and be cool with the whole vampire thing? He thought back to that unfortunate incident with the woman with a vampire kink, and shuddered a little.

Then he thought of his neighbour – the handsome nurse next door who rode his orange bike to work couldn’t possibly be single – he was cute, funny, and always struck up friendly conversation whenever he and Finn passed each other. To say Finn had a crush would be an understatement.

How would he even bring that up? _Hey, Poe! What’s your opinion on vampires? Also, hope you don’t mind hickeys._ Finn snorted, shaking his head and leaving the list where it was tacked to the wall.

Finn was able to banish the thought as he went to work the next morning, slathered in SPF 50 and hidden behind a wide brimmed hat, fashionably long over shirt and sunglasses. Luckily, the sun didn’t actually burn him to a crisp, instead it just made him more prone to nasty blistering sunburn than he was used to before he turned. Another thing he missed was the natural glow his skin had when he was alive, but he discovered foundation could quite easily hide the slight dullness he had developed now that he was, well, technically dead.

It wasn’t until he got home that evening that he was rather suddenly reminded of Poe – and his crush on Poe – when he found a large, ginger tabby rolling around on his sofa.

“You’re not my cat.”

The cat saw him, flattened its ears and hissed.

“Yeah, yeah, you hate vampires – you’re Poe’s cat, right?”

The cat hissed again, and Finn decided to take that as a yes. He didn’t bother trying to pick the cat up – he’d learnt the hard way that cats and vampires simply don’t mix – instead slipping out of the flat and knocking on the door to the left of his: Poe’s place. 

When Poe answered, Finn suddenly couldn’t remember what he was going to say – Poe looked exhausted, and the tousled hair, loose tracksuits and bare chest suggested he’d been sleeping.

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s ok – night shift, that’s all,” Poe managed a sleepy smile. “Is something the matter?”

“I think your cat must’ve gotten out, it’s in my flat.”

“Oh, shit, she likes to sneak out, I’m sorry.”

“It’s no problem,” Finn said, even though the cat was probably tearing his cushions apart as they spoke. “It doesn’t really like me though, so you should probably come and get it.”

Poe nodded, and pushed his feet into a pair of flip-flops before shuffling across to Finn’s door – still completely topless. Really, Finn thought, this was just unfair.

“Bebe,” Poe cooed, stepping into Finn’s flat, and the evil ginger cat came running. It hopped gracefully into Poe’s arms, snuggling up against him before turning to hiss at Finn again, and Finn stuck his tongue out at it.

“It’s odd,” Poe said, scratching Bebe between the ears, “she usually loves people.”

“Well, there’s a first for everything,” Finn shrugged, and he felt chest flutter when Poe smiled at him.

“Uh,” Finn’s tongue felt heavy and useless in his mouth, and he tried clearing his throat before starting again. “Are you single?”

 _Fuck,_ Finn thought, and he resisted the urge to slap his forehead – he was about to apologise when Poe grinned at him.

“Yeah, I’m single.”

“Oh, cool,” Finn said, scratching his nose and looking anywhere other than at Poe. “Me too.”

“Really?”

“Why the tone of surprise?” Was that flirting? It felt like flirting. He wasn’t sure where the sudden bout of confidence had come from, but he was going to ride it out.

Poe shrugged, suddenly bashful, and Finn thought the way he looked when he blushed was pretty damn sweet.

“Do you think I’m cute?” Finn asked, only a little bit teasingly, and Poe went even redder. “You don’t have to answer that.”

“I do,” Poe said, smiling shyly, “think you’re cute, I mean.”

“You’re not too bad yourself,” Finn replied, and it was his turn to feel flustered. They smiled at each other for a moment, and there was something heavy hanging in the air, something not yet said.

“Would you like to get dinner, sometime?” Poe asked eventually, and Finn felt his stomach drop a bit.

“That sounds lovely, but – ” he sighed, looking up at the ceiling to avoid to crestfallen look on Poe’s face. “ – there’s something you should know.”

\--

All things considered, Poe took the whole “I can’t eat food because I’m a part of the living dead” thing pretty well. He’d been, understandably, a bit sceptical at first, but then he saw the teeth and the lack of pulse and became a little more willing to believe it.

So, instead of dinner, Poe took Finn to a roller rink.

“Wait, so how old are you, actually?”

“Forty-three, this year.”

“Well, you don’t look a day past twenty-five.”

Poe grinned at him, his movements much smoother than Finn’s wobbly steps on the rink – Finn was gripping his hand, making sure not to crush it, and desperately trying not to slip onto his ass in front of everyone. So far, there’d only been a couple close calls, and Poe had caught him each time, smiling despite Finn’s strong grip on his fingers.

“One of the few perks,” Finn said. “No matter how old I am, I’ll still die looking young and beautiful.”

That got him a laugh, and the way Poe smiled at him made Finn feel lightheaded in the best way.

“Ok, I’m just saying, but you’ve been around since, like, the eighties, and you don’t know how to roller skate?”

“Listen, man,” Finn said defensively, but he still chuckled, “just because it was a thing, doesn’t mean I was involved.”

“So there’s no photos of you as a kid in weird clothing at a roller rink?”

“Only one, from a birthday party,” Finn said, remembering all too well the clashing colours and sticky mouths. “It was my friend’s party, Slip, though looking back I think I spent most of it just talking to his parents. His friends didn’t like me much.”

“Aww,” Poe patted Finn with his free hand. “Well, his loss.”

“Yeah,” he didn’t really want to think about Slip, especially when he was with Poe, so he changed the subject. “What about you? I’m guessing you do this a lot.”

“Me and my friends used to do this all the time,” Poe nodded as he spoke, and Finn admired the way his hair bobbed with his movements.

“You take every guy you like here?”

“Only the really cute ones.”

Finn grinned, looking at the floor for a moment before glancing at Poe, who was smiling back at him. Cheesy 80s music aside, it all felt quite romantic, and the disco ball cast twinkling lights over Poe’s smiling face. 

“I’m having a really nice time with you, Poe.”

“I’m glad,” Poe said, “I’d wanted to ask you out for a while, but I always got too nervous.”

“I just assumed you weren’t single,” Finn said with a self-deprecating laugh.

“I’m also glad you decided to ask me that,” Poe said, and he gave Finn’s hand a squeeze, which was starting to grip Poe’s hand less tightly as Finn gained more confidence on the rink.

“I guess I have Bebe to thank for that.” He then remembered how Bebe had tried to bite him when he picked Poe up for their date, and felt a little less thankful.

“What is it with cats and vampires, by the way?”

“Oh, who knows,” Finn shrugged, “lots of supposed reasons.”

“Maybe she’ll warm up to you,” Poe said, but Finn shook his head.

“Unless you can give me a pulse again, she’s probably always gonna attack my feet when I come in.”

“Then I’ll buy you some steel-capped boots.”

“How romantic,” Finn joked, and then Poe took them to the side, saying he wanted to try out the claw games.

“Those things are rigged,” Finn said, but Poe just shrugged, slotting a coin into the machine.

Sure enough, the toy dropped straight out of the claw, but Poe just put in another coin and tried again.

And again. And again.

It took five attempts for him to win something: a cheap plushie cat. He presented it to Finn with a flourish, saying “there, I found a cat that doesn’t hate vampires.”

Finn took it, laughing, but he couldn’t say anything for a moment because the gesture was making his throat feel tight. He beamed at Poe, hoping to show him how much he appreciated it, even if it was just a stuffed toy from a claw machine.

“You have your shift soon, right?” Poe asked, and Finn’s smile faded a little, because it felt like this date had only just begun, and now it was already ending.

“Yeah, guess we should head back.”

They talked the whole way home, but it was notably more sombre now, both knowing they’d have to go their separate ways until neither of them had a shift again, which had taken meticulous planning the first time around.

Poe must have picked up on Finn’s mood, because in front of their respective doors, he put his hand on Finn’s shoulder.

“You ok, buddy?”

“Yeah, I’m just sad it’s over, and I don’t know when I’m next free.”

Poe’s eyes were understanding, and then his lips quirked up in a small smile.

“How about I give you something to remember me by until I see you again?”

He continued smiling as Finn gave him a questioning look, and then he was leaning in, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of Finn’s mouth. It was over in a split second, but Finn felt himself tingling pleasantly all over, and he couldn’t stop the big, sappy grin spreading across his face.

“You’re even cuter when you smile like that,” Poe said, voice low like he was sharing a secret, and then he was waving goodbye. Finn couldn’t move as Poe went into his flat, giving Finn one last grin before he was gone, and Finn continued to stand there for another moment, his hand coming up to touch where Poe’s lips had been, soft and warm.

Eventually, he unstuck himself from the spot he was stood on, and went back into his own flat. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Poe had said – that he found Finn’s smile cute, fangs and all – and if he had any blood circulating through his bloodstream, he would’ve blushed.

Finn found the bucket list stuck to the wall, and looked at the option that was still left unchecked.

  * Find a soulmate (???)



He wouldn’t cross it off _just_ yet, he thought with a grin, but maybe one day.


End file.
